Hard to self host is one of those things that has now become received wisdom in tech circles. It isn’t hard to self host email. More people should do it.
Turning your service to shit to extract the most money from your “users” at the expense of usability is the end result of commercialisation in every instance that has ever existed so far during capitalism.
Even if it destroys the product, this will not stop capitalists ruining it in the name of a few extra dollars/currency in the short term.
I’m already one step ahead because I DO reduce my reliance on anything commercial.
Relying on capitalist companies for anything long-lasting or worthwhile is foolish.